Photo courtesy of Stacy Shea
The Bulldogs played their home opener on Wednesday night against the Shrewsbury Colonials. The crowd was excited to finally see Canton back in action on their home ice, and they had something to cheer for early into the first period as none other than Chris Lavoie sniped a shot passed the Shrewsbury netminder. The goal occurred after a great breakout pass by Declan Pfeffer, then Lavoie used his speed to get around multiple defenders and beat the goalie with a quick shot. With just under two minutes to play in the first period the Pioneers won several faceoffs in a row to keep possession of the puck and keep pressure on Canton's goaltender, Joe Cammarata. A faceoff loss followed by a shot from the defender would find it's way over Cammarata's shoulder to tie the game. The second period featured a lot of back and forth action between the two squads. With just over nine minutes remaining in the period Shrewsbury worked the powerplay and found the back of the net. However, just twelve seconds later, senior captain John Hagan took advantage of a loose puck of the faceoff and ripped it far side right over the pad. The Pioneers scored another late goal in the second to take a one goal lead into the dressing room. The Bulldogs knew they needed a big third period to get back into this game. Canton showed much aggression to start the period as they were very hungry for the next goal, but Shrewsbury wasn’t giving in and their goalie was denying every opportunity the Bulldogs had. The Bulldogs continued to attack the offensive zone when finally they caught a break when Tommy Ghostlaw was able to win a loose puck and found Lavoie for his second goal of the game. In the final half of the period there was an end to end action but no one could take advantage of their opponents on the scoreboard. The teams skated to a 3-3 tie.